Medical Board Game

ABSTRACT

A board game for educational and recreational purposes allowing players to simulate advancement through the various levels of employment and knowledge in the health care industry. The game is played on a board with a continuous path along its outer edge. Players advance around the board using a thrown die, keeping their place with a token. Each player starts at the lowest level in the health care industry and endeavors to become Surgeon General of the United States.

The present invention relates to a family-oriented board game that encourages players to increase their medical knowledge test and refresh their existing knowledge and move up the Health Care career ladder. Specifically this is a game where a player is rewarded by advancement for their depth of medical knowledge, encouraging further medical education and learning. The present invention can be played by members of the general public or by health care professionals. The game may be played with two to eight players or teams of players. A single player who is interested in expanding their medical knowledge and testing themselves may also play the game. It is anticipated that the competitive aspect of playing against another person or persons will heighten the enjoyment and educational aspirations of the game.

With reference to the FIGS. 1 and 2, advancing a token in a clockwise direction around a playing board 100 plays the game. Each player or team will choose a token to represent themselves or their team. A representative sampling of tokens is shown in FIG. 2. It is the purpose of the game to supply tokens of a medical nature, such as bedpans, walkers, syringes, etc. The purpose of the medically oriented tokens is to heighten the medical theme of the game, and to provide amusement and interest for the players. Referring again to FIG. 1, players start their progression around the playing board by placing their token at the Annual Salary Square 1. The Annual Salary Square 1 consists of a printed area on the playing board having a large dollar sign with an arrow incorporated into it indicating the direction of play. Referring to FIG. 3, each player will be given a predetermined amount of money at the start of the game in various denominations of Health Care Dollars 60. In a preferred embodiment each player starts the game with a predetermined amount of “Health Care Dollars” in a preferred embodiment of the game, each player starts with three $500 bills, six $100 bills, eight $50 dollar bills, five $20 bills, ten $10 bills and ten $5 dollar bills. It is anticipated that the players can modify the amount of money each player starts the game with by mutual agreement.

The order of play between players will generally be decided by the roll of a die, the player with the highest roll going first, and the person to the left of the high roller going next, and play proceeding in that manner around the board. Other means may be used to determine the order of play, such as agreement between the players, or who was the winner of the last game, etc.

To start the game, each player puts his or her token on the “Annual Salary” square. Play is accomplished by rolling a die or dice and advancing the same number of squares along the board as is shown on the die or dice. Place on the board is kept by position of each players token. The purpose of the game is to have the players advance through different levels of the medical profession. In a preferred embodiment of the game, each player will start with an educational equivalent of high school and will endeavor to rise through the ranks of the medical profession by obtaining more advanced degrees and experience. Referring to FIG. 1, the playing board 100 can be seen. The playing board 100 is square, although other shapes may be used. In the preferred embodiment, each side has six spaces where players may put their tokens, and four corner spaces, two of the corner spaces mutually shared by the adjoining sides.

Referring to FIG. 1, the spaces are named as follows: Square 1 is the “Annual Salary” square; Square 2 is “Dialysis Center,” Square 3 is “Lab,” Square 4 is “Hospice Center,” Square 5 is “Blood Bank, Square 6 is “Doctor's Office,” Square 7 is “Urgent Care Center,” Square 8 is “Nursing School,” Square 9 is “Diagnostic Center,” Square 10 is “Pharmacy,” Square 11 is “Nursing Home,” Square 12 is “Scholarship Fund,” Square 13 is “Health Insurance,” Square 14 is “Physical Therapy,” Square 15 is “Hospital,” Square 16 is “Dialysis Center,” Square 17 is “Lab,” Square 18 is “Substance Abuse Center,” Square 19 is “Hospice Center,” Square 20 is “Dr.'s Office,” Square 21 is “Health Care Clinic,” Square 22 is “Medical School,” Square 23 is “Pharmacy,” Square 24 is “Nursing Home,” Square 25 is “City Morgue,” Square 26 is “First-Aid Station,” Square 27 is “Occupational Therapy,” and Square 28 is “Senior Center.” There is an area in the center of the board 100 shown on FIG. 1, Square 29 called “Scholarship Fund.”

To advance through a particular educational level, a player must first land on the Nursing School Square 8. When a player lands on Square 8, he or she will be given a question to answer. Questions are printed on cards supplied with the game. If the player answers the question correctly, they may advance one step up the medical profession ladder. However, to advance the player must not only answer the question correctly, but must be able to pay a tuition fee for the next level of advancement. For example, the first rank on the medical profession is that of CNA, or Certified Nurses Assistant. The tuition fee for that rank may be $50. The next level of advancement would be LPN, or Licensed Practical Nurse. The tuition fee for that rank may be $100, and so on. The ranks of the nursing profession in the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the tuition fees are: CNA—$50; LPN—$100; and RN (registered nurse) $150. There are three RN levels: RN with Associates Degree, RN with Bachelor's Degree, and RN with Masters Degree. The annual salary levels for the ranks in the Nursing Profession are: CNA—$25.00; LPN—$50; RN (Associates Degree) $75; RN (Bachelors Degree) $100; RN (Masters Degree) $125.

To advance through the levels of nursing, the player must land on the Nursing School Square, answer the question presented correctly and pay the tuition fee. After a player has advanced through all of the nursing ranks, they must then advance through the ranks of Doctor. To accomplish this, the player must land on the Medical School Square, answer correctly the question present, and pay the tuition fee. The ranks of Doctor and the associated tuition fees are: Resident—$300; Medical Doctor $350; Surgeon—$400; Chief of Staff—$450 and Surgeon General of the United States—$500. The annual salary for these levels are: Resident—$150; MD—$175; Surgeon—$200; Chief of Staff—$225. The Surgeon General of the United States does not receive a salary as when a player reaches that level, the game is ended, or that person is retired from the game. The first person to advance to the rank of Surgeon General of the United States wins the game and play can either end at that point or continue to advance the other players.

Each player will be supplied with a card indicating his or her level or rank. The card will be kept in front of the player so the other players can immediately tell the standing of all the players. Each time a player advances completely around the board and passes the Annual Salary Square they will be paid one-half of the tuition fee for highest level of education they have achieved. During game play the 28 spaces of play provide opportunity for the player to advance or might otherwise reward or punish the player. On each play, regardless of the place where the player lands, the player will be required to answer a question drawn from the question bank. Approximately one out of every four cards drawn will reward the player monetarily if the question is answered correctly. The amount of monetary reward will be $10. An incorrect answer for those questions that do not have monetary rewards does not penalize the player. An incorrect answer to a question having a monetary reward will penalize the player in the amount of the monetary reward. An incorrect answer requires the player to deposit the amount of the reward into the “bank” or the reserve of play money supplied with the game. In addition to the question cards having monetary rewards there will be a number of cards labeled “Patients Rights.” Drawing a “Patient's Rights” card entitles the player to another turn.

Some of the squares on the board will penalize and/or reward the player for landing on them. These squares will have printed on them the word “Co-Pay.” In the preferred embodiment of the game, the “Co-Pay” squares are: the “Dr.'s Office: Squares 6 and 20, the Pharmacy Squares 10 and 23, and the Urgent Care Center Square 7 will be marked as “Co-Pay.” When the player lands on these squares he or she will be rewarded the amount of the Co-Pay indicated on the square for a correct answer, and penalized the amount of the “Co-Pay” for an incorrect answer. Any penalty will be placed in the Scholarship Fund Square 29 in the center of the board. Landing on the “Hospital” Square 15 or the “City Morgue” Square 25, they lose their turn and do not draw a card. The player will resume play on the next turn.

The preferred embodiment of the game comprises several sets of question cards of varying degrees of difficulty separated by degree. This allows questions to be tailored to the age or experience of the player. 

1. A board game wherein players advance by correctly answering questions relating to the Health Care System, said game comprising: A plurality of tokens with a medical theme; A plurality of question and answer cards wherein the questions are medically based; A plurality of “Health Care Dollars” of various denominations; A plurality of cards indicating rank in the medical profession; A game board having a playing surface comprising an outer periphery and an inner space, said outer periphery comprising a plurality of playing spaces each having a medically oriented name, said outer periphery further comprising a starting space, said inner space comprising a design with the name of the game and a playing space for receiving and holding said “Health Care Dollars,” A chance means for determining movement along said outer periphery.
 2. The board game as recited in claim 1 wherein said outer periphery further comprises a plurality of spaces labeled “Co-Pay” where a player is rewarded in “Health Care Dollars” for a correct answer and penalized for an incorrect answer.
 3. The board game as recited in claim 1 wherein said playing space in said inner space of said game board is labeled “Scholarship Fund”.
 4. The board game as recited in claim 1 wherein said chance means is a die.
 5. The board game as recited in claim 1 wherein question and answer cards are of various degrees of difficulty.
 6. The board game as recited in claim 1 wherein said starting space is labeled “Annual Salary”.
 7. The board game as recited in claim 1 wherein playing spaces will be labeled in order of progression from said Annual Salary playing space: “Dialysis Center,” “Lab,” “Hospice Center,” “Blood Bank, “Doctor's Office,” “Urgent Care Center,” “Nursing School,” “Diagnostic Center,” “Pharmacy,” “Nursing Home,” “Scholarship Fund,” “Health Insurance,” “Physical Therapy,” “Hospital,” “Dialysis Center,” “Lab,” “Substance Abuse Center,” “Hospice Center,” “Dr.'s Office,” “Health Care Clinic,” “Medical School,” “Pharmacy,” “Nursing Home,” “City Morgue,” “First-Aid Station,” “Occupational Therapy,” “Senior Center”.
 8. A method of providing a medical profession education using a board game wherein players progress by correctly answering questions comprising: A plurality of tokens with a medical theme; A plurality of question and answer cards wherein the questions are medically based; A plurality of “Health Care Dollars” of various denominations; A plurality of cards indicating rank in the medical profession; A game board having a playing surface comprising an outer periphery and an inner space, said outer periphery comprising a plurality of playing spaces each having a medically oriented name, said outer periphery further comprising a starting space, said inner space comprising a design with the name of the game and a playing space for receiving and holding said “Health Care Dollars,” labeled “Scholarship Fund,” A starting playing space on said periphery labeled “Annual Salary,” Said method comprising:
 1. having each player select a token,
 2. having each player roll the die, the highest roll determining who plays first,
 3. rolling the die and advancing the same number of playing spaces around the periphery as are indicated by the die,
 4. answering a question picked from the question and answer cards,
 5. advancing to the next level of the health care profession if the question is answered correctly and if the player has landed on the Nursing School square while the player is in the nursing ranks, or the Medical School square if the player is in the medical profession ranks, and by paying a predetermined tuition,
 6. paying an amount of “Health Care Dollars” to the “Scholarship Fund” for an incorrect answer on those playing spaces labeled “Co-Pay”
 7. collecting an amount of “Health Care Dollars” for a correct answer on a playing space labeled “Co-Pay,”
 8. collecting an amount of Health Care Dollars equal to a predetermined salary amount for the level the player has achieved each time the player passes or lands on the “Annual Salary” playing space,
 9. progressing through the medical profession ranks until the highest rank “Surgeon General of the United States is achieved. 